When Dr. Shontale M. Bryant moved to Memphis after nine years in Nashville and many more in her home state of Indiana, she wasn’t familiar with Christian Brothers University. But that quickly changed.
“I was working for Shelby County Schools,” said Dr. Bryant. “I had no idea that CBU was practically across the street. I spent one year teaching and then worked in HR. Whenever Christian Brothers came up, everyone spoke highly of it. Graduates always had great things to say. I started to wonder, ‘What is this place?’”
While working at Shelby County Schools, Dr. Bryant enrolled in an instructional design doctoral program at another university. As she worked on her dissertation, she saw a job opening for an instructional designer at CBU. Based on the positive reputation she had formed, Dr. Bryant applied and was delighted to get the job. Along with the satisfaction that she was now working in her field of interest, she also was able to put her learning into practice.
Since joining CBU in 2020, the department has adjusted with the times and the needs of the university. Dr. Bryant currently leads a three-person team as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).
“I just made my five-year milestone at CBU in August of this year,” Dr. Bryant said. “This is a great place to be. It’s been wonderful for me. There isn’t anything like it.”
The CTL team has many responsibilities and is best known for its work with the Canvas learning management system. Whether asynchronous, synchronous, or hybrid, every course offered by CBU is on the Canvas platform in some form or another. Some classes may only have a syllabus. Others may take advantage of all of the bells and whistles, from designing interactive, differentiated content to building assessments and linking online textbooks.
Additionally, CTL manages challenge exams for two different school districts; focuses on learning pedagogies for varied course modes and populations, training and content creation; and oversees some of the educational technology used at CBU.
“Shontale is a true believer in the transformative power of higher education, and she brings that conviction and enthusiasm to her work here at CBU,” said Dr. Lurene Kelley, CBU’s Director of Academic Support. “She is constantly thinking and working on new and innovative ways to bring more students to our university.”
With its eye on recruiting students, CTL is constantly recommending and supporting the university through teaching and learning environment adjustments to serve today’s and tomorrow’s students.
A recent email to staff and faculty referenced the Lewis University partnership and noted an expected increase in online course offerings.
“It’s pivot season,” said Dr. Bryant, who appreciates how CBU—its employees and its students—have been nimble in a quickly evolving higher education environment. She and her department have extensive experience in online instruction and look forward to learning more about next steps.
“We want to serve students, and we want to be relevant,” she said. “How can we be the most relevant to students today? What’s needed and what’s wanted? What do we have that already speaks to that and how can we serve? We’re ready to train, and we’re ready to support.”
Dr. Bryant also teaches part-time in the Education Department. Her office is located in Buckman Hall.
